Seward

Location and General Characteristics

Seward, a neighborhood on the western bank of the Mississippi River, is bound on the north by Interstate 94, on the east by the Mississippi River, on the south by 27th Street East and on the west by Hiawatha Avenue. The neighborhood is named for William Seward, secretary of state under Abraham Lincoln. Of the neighborhood's 390 acres, 54 percent are residential and almost 20 percent are industrial. The industrial uses are located along Minnehaha and Snelling avenues and 27th Street East in the southwestern portion of the neighborhood. Parks line the river and Seabury Avenue. A group of rail workers' houses on Milwaukee Avenue built at the end of the 19th century and restored in the late 1970s has National Historic Preservation status and gives character to this neighborhood. Seward is connected to downtown, the airport and the Mall of America through the newly opened light-rail line.

The Playwrights' Center on Franklin Avenue is a restored church, now a leading American incubator of new work for the theater.